Donald won the Bronko Nagurski on Monday and is also a finalist for the Lombardi, Outland and Bednarik

Dec. 11, 2013

GREENSBORO – Pitt defensive standout Aaron Donald has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, as voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches.

Under the auspices of the ACC, the league's 14 head football coaches voted for an All-ACC football team, as well as Players of the Year, Rookies of the Year and a Coach of the Year award. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players and ballots were worth three points for each first-team, two points for second-team and one point for third-team selections.

The 2013 Coaches All-ACC team was similar to the All-ACC squad announced last week by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association (ACSMA), as the two voting bodies agreed on all of the major award winners.

Donald, who was honored as the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner – given to the nation’s most outstanding defensive player – has been named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-ACC recognition. Tyler Boyd landed on third-team, and Devin Street earned honorable mention.

A hometown product of Pittsburgh, Pa., the 6-foot, 285-pound Donald leads the nation with 26.5 tackles for lost yardage (2.2 per game). The senior has forced four fumbles while registering 10 quarterback sacks. Donald has 54 total tackles in addition to 16 quarterback hurries, two pass break-ups and a blocked extra point that proved the difference in Pitt’s one-point ACC win over Syracuse on Nov. 23. His tackles behind the line of scrimmage have resulted in total losses of 130 yards.

Donald received five National Defensive Player of the Week awards, and was twice named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week. With 28.5 career sacks, he is tied for second among active NCAA FBS players.

Tyler Boyd’s freshman season was one for the Pitt record books. The Clariton, Pa., native broke Larry Fitzgerald’s freshman receptions record of 69 catches, and is currently four yards shy of breaking Fitzgerald’s freshman receiving yards record as well. Boyd has 77 catches for 1,001 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Boyd finished the regular-season ranking third in the ACC with 6.4 receptions per game and fifth with 83.4 receiving yards per game. He was the only freshman to be ranked in the Top 10 in either category. Boyd garnered ACC Receiver of the Week for his 134 yard, one touchdown performance against New Mexico, and was the ACC Rookie of the Week for his encore performance the following week at Duke, catching eight passes for 154 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. He was named the 247 Sports National True Freshman of the Week for those back-to-back outings.

Boyd has four 100-yard receiving games this season, and it took him just eight games to do so – becoming the fastest player to four 100-yard receiving games in program history. He also had a span of three-consecutive games with over 100 receiving yards, becoming the first freshman to do so since Antonio Bryant in 1999.

Street became the all-time top pass catcher in Pitt history when he hauled in nine receptions at Navy on Oct. 26, surpassing Latef Grim (178 catches from 1998-2000) for the top spot. Street now has 202 career receptions — the first Pitt player to reach the 200-catch milestone — and ranks third all-time at Pitt with 2,901 career receiving yards. He needs 161 yards to surpass the Panthers’ career leader, Antonio Bryant, who had 3,061 yards from 1999-2001.

Street’s 51 catches for 854 yards ranked him sixth in receptions per game (5.1) and fourth in receiving yards per game (85.4). Boyd and Street finished the regular-season as the top duo in the ACC as they were the only pair of teammates to rank in the ACC’s Top 6 in both receiving yards per game and receptions per game.

Donald is a finalist for Rotary Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy and the Chuck Bendarik Award. The Lombardi Award will be announced Wednesday night on CBS Sports Network. The telecast airs from 8:30-10 p.m. and the other finalists include UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr, Alabama linebacker C.J. Mosley and Missouri Defensive end Michael Sam.

On Thursday Donald will attend “The Home Depot College Football Awards Show” where the Bednarik and Outland will be announced. The “Red Carpet Special” begins at 6 p.m. and the Awards Show runs from 7-9 p.m.

Other finalists for the Bednarik include Barr and Mosley, while Donald will be up against Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews and Baylor offensive guard Cyril Richardson for the Outland.

ACC Player of the Year – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida StateACC Offensive Player of the Year – Jameis Winston, QB Florida StateACC Defensive Player of the Year – Aaron Donald, DT, PittACC Rookie of the Year – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida StateACC Offensive Rookie of the Year – Jameis Winston, QB, Florida StateACC Defensive Rookie of the Year – Kendall Fuller, CB, Virginia TechACC Coach of the Year – David Cutcliffe, Duke